What If
by RikaRose
Summary: Bayley's too nice for her own good, and Finn and his demon can't seem to stay away from her, but what if this puts them on a path they never expected.
1. What Ifs

Finn was feeling pretty great as he walked back to the hotel. He was pleasantly buzzed from sharing a few beers with the boys, and even though he'd call it a night a little earlier than the rest of the fellas, no one had given him too hard a time of it. He really was starting to feel at home on the NXT roster, and he'd finally made a few friends he could trust enough with the truth of the demon, something he'd always been extremely careful about confiding.

All in all life was was good, and even better when he walked into the hotel lobby he spotted the shining chestnut hair of one of his favorite people. The signature ponytail was draped over the arm of one of the couches in the corner, and he might have missed it in the low, warm lighting of the lobby if it hadn't been for the bright purple headband accompanying it. He wondered why she was curled up here instead of asleep in her room and decided he should ask her.

As he made his way over to her he thought back to when he'd met Bayley and how he'd instantly warmed to her fun, sweet personality. As a matter of fact as much as he liked her he normally avoided spending too much time with her because he'd found that she was also entirely too pretty and that combined with her warm personality was a lethal combination for a man as focused on his career as he was. Even knowing that he couldn't help but be drawn to her. He'd never known someone who was as genuine and giving as she was. He knew some might might see that as a weakness, but he'd seen her strength of character and her strength in the face of adversity and knew that she was far from weak.

Bayley sighed and tried to get comfortable on the not so comfortable couch. She was kicking herself for her tendency to give everything to others without thinking it through first. Especially when it got her stuck in situations like she was now. She'd been riding with Carmella and by extension Enzo and Cass lately, but Cass had been injured and stuck at home on this trip so she and Carmella had planned to split a room as well. When Cass showed up in surprise tonight she had unthinkingly offered to let them have the room to themselves. She'd thought that it would be easy to find someone to crash with or to get another room. Unfortunately she'd been unaware of how late it was or that the hotel was completely booked. She'd failed to get a response from any of the girls or to secure a room and now she was left to ride the night out in the hotel lobby.

Finn startled her when he plopped down beside her on the couch, but it was a pleasant surprise after the kind of night she'd been having. She'd always enjoyed Finn's company. He was a good man, strong and compassionate with a smile that could light up the whole room. He favored her with one of those smiles and asked what she was doing in the lobby. She explained her predicament and how she'd insisted her friends take the room only to find out that there wasn't another one available. He replied,

"Well if it won't make you uncomfortable then you are more than welcome to the second bed in my room."

Bayley was too tired and too relieved at the the thought of not being stuck on the uncomfortable couch for the rest of the night to even care about who's room she would be sharing. She agreed and Finn stood up and helped her gather her things then she followed him to his room.

Things were a little awkward at first, but they were friends and managed to make it through the exchanging of turns in the bathroom gracefully enough. Since they were both tired it was only a short period of time before they were in their respective beds asleep.

Bayley was awoken to the feeling of oppressive heat, her hair standing on end and like something was pressing down on top of her. Through the moonlight she could just barely detect the wisp of a shadow leaning over her. It was eerily there and yet not there. As it began to lean forward she squeaked out Finn's name so low it was barely above a whisper, but he still jerked awake and sat straight up. The shadow disappeared instantaneously looking like it was sucked into Finn's chest, eyes, and hands, his eyes going so unnaturally dark that you could see it even in the moonlit room. It lasted only for a moment before they returned to normal and he reached out and turned on the lamp. Bayley, who had just had the scare of her life, tried to speak, but instead began to hyperventilate. He rushed to her side wrapping her loosely in his embrace. He rubbed her back and arms and gently coaxed her to calm down. When her breathing had slowed and she was able to speak again she asked,

"What was that?"

"The demon," he replied, his voice husky and deep still from sleep. He continued, "He's real, and he's a part of me. He's the reason why I normally room alone. I'm sorry I got you into this."

"You didn't get me into this. I'm the one who gave up my room, remember," then she asked, "How does it, um, work exactly?"

"He's been with me as long as I can remember. He's scared people by accident before, but I've never seen him do anything like that."

"Can you control it?"

"Most of the time."

"But not always?" she asked. He shrugged apologetically,

"It's easier when it's just me, and he gets the most control when I wear the paint. Sometimes it's hard to bring him down after that and sometimes he takes control unexpectedly, but I'm usually able to take it back fairly quickly."

"He won't hurt me?" she asked.

"No I think he's fascinated by you."

It was silent for a moment. By this point in the conversation Finn was laying leaned back against the headboard with Bailey laying practically on top of him. Neither had noticed how close they had moved while he was comforting her. Finn realized it now though and started to get up, but she stopped him,

"Please. I know it's weird, but can you not get up yet. Would you stay until I can fall back asleep?" He immediately stopped moving away,

"Of course, and it's not weird. I'm sorry he scared you."

"It's okay, I'm just not ready to be by myself yet." They settled back in and though Finn had intended to move back to his own bed it wasn't long before they were both asleep.

When Bayley awoke again it was still dark in the room, but there was faint light coming through the cracks in the blinds. At some point they had shifted so she was spooned against Finn with their legs entangled and his groin nestled firmly against her ass. With the feel of him pressed against her it was obvious he was aroused, and she could feel him lightly nuzzling the crook of her neck. The sensation of both immediately set fire to her own arousal, sending flames through her body, and causing her to moan and gasp involuntarily.

She knew Finn well enough to know that this was definitely not something he would do without permission, so she knew it was the demon in control, and he took her moans as encouragement. The nuzzling turned more aggressive and he began placing open mouthed kisses which then turned into gentle nips. His hands, which had rested at her hips, slowly slid up her sides to simultaneously cup her breasts and pull her even more firmly against him. Molten-hot liquid heat heat burned in her core shooting out into her body. Delicious tingles swept under her skin making her whole body alight and buzzing with desire, each touch pulling her in deeper. She might have panicked had she been more conscious of what was going on, but by the time he gently sunk his teeth into that sensitive spot between her neck and shoulder, she was too far gone to care. It was her increasingly loud gasps that finally woke Finn, and it took him a moment to process the situation before he reacted.

As soon as his hands stilled it was like a bucket of ice water had been thrown on her. She jerked away and out of the bed. She tripped on her own feet, tumbling head first into the other bed.

"Are you okay?" Finn asked panicked. She couldn't answer, still attempting to catch her breath and he rushed over, unthinkingly rubbing his hands over her face and arms in an attempt to assess if she had injured herself. Though his touch was noticeably different, motivated by his concern, it caused her to begin trembling.

"I'm so sorry Bayley. I really didn't mean for that to happen," he said as he continued to gently rub her arms. When she was finally able to speak she said,

"It's okay. You warned me last night. I guess I shouldn't have asked you to stay with me though. I'm feeling a little stupid right now."

"Hey, it wasn't stupid, you were scared and you weren't ready to be alone after that. This whole thing is my fault. I should have realized he was going to cause problems."

"No, Finn. You were kind enough to help me out when I needed it. Please don't beat yourself up over it. We can just chalk it up to lesson learned. In hindsight it was probably not the best idea to fall asleep in the arms of a demon who is fascinated with me."

He looked at her silently for a moment, trying to gauge if she was really as okay as she was trying to portray herself to be before replying,

"Sure, lesson learned."

They both fell silent, lost in thought for a little while until the realization sunk in that they were still in each others arms and that Finn was still noticeably aroused. Neither wanted to add to the awkwardness of the situation, so rather than jerking apart they both moved away slowly. Talking at the same time Finn muttered about getting cleaned up while Bayley said,

"Are you hungry? I'm hungry. Do you want me to order breakfast?" Bayley's rushed delivery seemed to help Finn find the humor in the situation becuase he looked up her and grinned. Bayley felt her face warm in embarrassment, which caused a curious reaction in Finn that she wasn't sure how to interpret. His eyes and his whole demeanor changed, intensified, became almost predatory. The way he moved toward her reminded her of a cat eyeing it's prey before he paused, his body language relaxed and his smile gentled. He replied,

"Sure. Why don't you order us breakfast, and I'll take the first shower," then he went straight to the bathroom. As soon as the door closed Bayley sunk back into the bed next to the phone muttering to herself, "stupid, stupid, stupid...get it together Bayley," then she took a deep breath and picked up the phone.

When Finn stepped out the shower he realized that he hadn't brought any clothes into the bathroom with him. He groaned to himself. Though he'd kept the shower ice cold he'd been unable to get his arousal to go away. It didn't help that the demon kept flashing him images of Bayley gasping and arching into him as he bit her neck. The demon was quite incensed that he'd been stopped in his play. Finn had argued internally with the demon questioning why he'd gotten them into the whole mess in the first place. The demon had not had a response to his query and seemed unconcerned with any awkwardness or tension he might have caused. He was more concerned with when he would be allowed to resume his exploration of the 'delectable female'. Finn had tried to make it clear that that would not be happening, but felt like he'd failed to get the point across.

He wrapped the towel around himself as securely as he could, pushed the demon down as much as possible and steeled himself before walking back into the bedroom. To his relief, Bayley didn't even notice him at first. She was sitting on the bed next to the phone absently rubbing at the spot on her neck where they had bitten her. The demon crowed internally at this and Finn mentally groaned and thought that a this rate he would never get his hard on to go away. He walked further into the room to his bags and turned so it wouldn't be so obvious before he said,

"Shower's free." Bayley jerked lightly to attention, staring at him, dazed for a second before replying,

"Okay."

She finally became aware enough to realize he was only in a towel and blushed brightly again. Through his demon heightened senses, Finn could also detect her increased heart rate and the scent of her awakened arousal, which caused his own to throb painfully. She grabbed her clothes and fled to the bathroom.

As he began to dress the demon kept urging him to do things that he knew he shouldn't do like strip back down and join her. What made it even worse was after a few minutes he could detect the faint sounds of her moans, and he knew that she had chosen to seek relief instead of a cold shower to deal with her arousal. If it hadn't been for the heightened hearing, he never would have heard the faint sounds under the sound of the running water, but to him it was as clear as if he was standing next to her. His continued refusal to join her was really pissing off the demon and for a moment they waged an internal war. Finn won by default only when he heard both the water turn off and a knock at the door from room service.

By the time he saw the hotel staff out the door Bayley was stepping out of the bathroom fresh faced and damp haired. She smiled hesitantly at him which was enough to make the demon- not exactly contrite-but at least aware that Finn might have been right. Finn smiled at her assuredly and her smile widened.

"Food's here," he said.

"Great! I'm starving," she replied.

Bayley was relieved to have Finn smile at her. It had been a really strange past few hours and his warm smile helped put her more at ease. She joined Finn at the table, and there was a comfortable silence while they ate the large spread of food that she'd ordered. Once she was full, Bayley sat back feeling a buzz of energy and much more right with the world. She asked Finn,

"What were you planning to do today?"

"I have to be at the show by six, but otherwise just training."

"You want to hit the gym together?" she asked. She felt much more well rested than she should considering how little sleep she'd had, and she was feeling the need to burn off more energy. Of course thinking about burning off energy seemed to instantly conjure up other methods of doing so which caused her to get completely sidetracked. When she realized just where her thoughts had led her while still sitting across from Finn at the breakfast table, she blushed bright red. Rather than calling her on her reaction, Finn's posture changed, his eyes flashed, and his nostrils flared. For a moment she wasn't sure what he would do before he seemed to shake it off and answer her question in the affirmative.

They busied themselves with gathering their gear, and were walking out the door when Bayley ran almost smack into Sami. She froze, her eyes going wide like a deer in headlights. Sami looked up just as Finn was pulling the door to, and stared between the both of them and the door gobsmacked. Finn tried to play it off and said,

"Oh, hey Sami, we were just about to head to the gym, do you want to come with us?" Sami took a moment to respond standing there with his mouth open and blinking for a second before he shook his head and snapped back to normal.

"Uh, yeah, sure guys. You mind if I grab my bag real quick?"

"No problem, do you want to meet us in the lobby?"

"Yeah I'll be down in a minute," he replied and headed back down the hall toward his room.

As soon as they stepped onto the elevator, Bayley turned toward Finn and said,

"Hey, thanks for playing it cool back there. I don't know what happened. I just froze. I didn't know what to say 'cause it's just been the wierdest day, and," she began talking faster as she went, "I mean not that there's anything wrong. I mean I promise I won't judge you because of the demon, and you're still my friend. It's just a lot to take in, you know?" she babbled out then stopped abruptly. To her mortification, she could feel her face heating once again, and she ranted internally to herself about this new habit of blushing constantly. Despite her reputation as a 'nice girl' she had never been the type to blush much before.

Finn was teasingly grinning at her babbling until she blushed, then his whole posture changed. Like he had earlier, his eyes flashed and his nostrils flared. He stepped forward until he was standing close and almost over top of her. She could feel the both of them, the strength and kindness of Finn, the prickling heat and power of the demon, and she involuntarily closed her eyes in anticipation. Just as she could feel the heat of his breath on her face, the elevator doors opened abruptly with a 'ding.' She swore she could hear a low growl just before he stepped out of the elevator.

Bayley followed him to a spot that was to the side and out of the way. He was silent, his eyes still dark and intense, and they stood awkwardly not speaking for a few minutes before they both turned to talk to each other at the same time. This put them standing almost as close as they had been in the elevator, and of course this was when Sami showed up. They abruptly pulled apart, but the damage was already done. Sami grinned at them slyly at first, but then surprised the both of them by launching into a story about some guy he'd seen in the hall. He began walking towards the doors as he talked, and they naturally fell into step beside him.

When they arrived at the gym they separated to go to their respective locker rooms. As soon as Sami and Finn were alone Sami looked at Finn and said,

"Please tell me you know what you are doing because that girl is not the kind you can fuck once and move on."

"What the hell?" Finn asked incredulously, " Do you really think I would do something like that? And besides, we're not fucking."

"Hey man, she's my friend and deserves to have somebody look out for her. I know you're a good man, but I've also never seen you have any kind of long term relationship and she is definitely a long term kind of girl. And if you're not fucking her then what the hell is going on 'cause that's sure what it looks like."

"I found her in the lobby last night. She was planning to crash on one of the couches because she's too nice for her own good sometimes and gave up her room. I couldn't leave her there, and I was just buzzed enough to not think through how the demon would react."

"Oh, man, what'd he do?"

"You know, it's not like I've never noticed Bayley before, or how sweet and beautiful she is. I just always put her in the 'I work with her' category, and avoided thinking too much about it, but I guess the demon didn't forget. He scared the crap out of her in the middle of the night when he woke her up in his shadow form. He was trying to figure out what I find so fascinating about her and why I've always avoided thinking about her too much."

"Damn. Is she okay with everything?"

"Yeah, surprisingly she handled it really well, all things considered."

"So why the tension between you guys then?

"Because I accidentally fell asleep in Bayley's bed after I'd calmed her down, and the demon was all too happy to take advantage. I woke up before it went too far, but we've both found it difficult to close that door now that it's been opened," Sami made a face at Finn's vague explanation, so Finn said, "And that is all of the detail you are getting on that, so don't ask."

Sami held up his hands in a gesture to indicate that he accepted it and they fell silent for a little while. After they'd finished stashing their gear in lockers Sami asked,

"Have you considered not closing the door then?"

"Seriously? You were just jumping down my throat about knowing what kind of girl she is."

"I'm just saying. If you've already passed the point of no return and the demon is just as fascinated, then maybe now's the time. I know part of why you don't do long term is because of the nature of this business and your dedication to it, but this is it. We've made it, and if there's ever a good time to take that chance, it's now, while you're both in the same place at the same time."

"I don't know. Maybe you're right, but I don't even know if that's what she wants. This is just so far outside of what I expected that I'm still getting my bearings."

"Well just think about it. I don't want you to have regrets a couple of years from now when we're all on Raw and travelling constantly and you suddenly realize that you should have taken the chance when you had it." Finn nodded his head to indicate he understood as they approached Bayley coming out of the other locker room. The three put their focus on training and no one mentioned it again.

When they broke for lunch, they headed to a local sandwich shop a little further down the block. While the boys were up grabbing their food, Bayley checked her phone. She'd finally gotten apologetic responses from the girls. She replied, letting them know that she appreciated it anyway and that she'd found somewhere. She tried to keep it vague hoping no one would dig any deeper. She wasn't looking forward to the Carmella inquisition when it came, but so far she'd not heard from Carmella. She wasn't too worried though. She knew her and Cass were probably sleeping in and taking advantage of the rare privacy she'd given them.

The boys brought the food to the table and the three enjoyed the meal with the tension from earlier mostly gone. The conversation was light and inconsequential, though Bayley was mostly silent. While she had been checking her phone, she remembered that her and Carmella had planned to stay here tonight and make the drive back in the morning. She knew most of the roster had planned to do the same since they all had the day off tomorrow. That meant she still had to worry about where she would be staying and it kept nagging at the back of her mind.

Finn noticed she was troubled and when Sami got up to go to the bathroom he asked,

"Is everything okay?"

"Sorry I've been so quiet, it just occurred to me that I still have to find a room for tonight."

"You know I'm not going to throw you out right?"

"Yeah, I know," she smiled at him to reassure him, "But is that really the best idea? The demon seems hell bent on getting us in trouble."

"I know, and I can't promise I can completely control him. I wish I could, but I don't know that we have much of a choice. The hotels are still full, and if you crash with anyone else tonight they will want to know where you were last night, won't they?"

"Shit. You're right," Bayley said with a grimace.

"Hey, don't worry over it too much. He would never hurt you, I would never hurt you, you know that right?" Finn looked at her like he wasn't sure how she would answer.

"Oh, Finn, of course I know that. I just don't want the demon to put you in a situation that you would regret later." Finn looked at her silently for a moment, seeming to come to a decision, before he spoke again,

"No matter what happens Bayley, I would never regret getting to know you better. There's something you need to understand, the demon's fascination with you came about because I was intrigued first. The demon sees something he wants and he takes it. Especially when he knew I wanted it too, which is how we ended up here. He doesn't understand that life is more complicated than that." Bayley felt a ball of nerves settle in her stomach and after a seconds hesitation she asked,

"You want me?"

"Right now I feel like I can't breath for wanting you. The demon and I are one and the same in many ways. He couldn't have wanted you unless I wanted you first," he said, his eyes intense. "The difference is he would have been content to keep you in that hotel room for the rest of the day, but I knew you needed more." His answer left her breathless, making her feel like she was simultaneously falling and flying.

When she'd first met Finn, she hadn't thought of him in that way. She'd been in a long term relationship and he had just been another potential friend. If she was honest with herself she'd known even then that her relationship was on it's last breath, but she'd still kept faithful, even in her thoughts. When the other girls moved to the main roster and she hadn't, her ex had taken that as a sign that she would never get called up. He'd started making assumptions about their future, pressuring her to start transitioning to a more 'normal' life. His lack of faith and the way he'd ignored her wants and her needs was the last straw. It had given her the impetus that she needed to end the relationship and never look back, but she certainly hadn't expected to feel this way so soon. The way Finn was looking at her made her want to say 'the hell with it' and drag him back to the hotel room right now.

Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately, she wasn't quite sure) Sami returned exclaiming exuberantly about an advertisement he'd seen on some band, and they began the walk back to the gym. She and Finn hardly had a moment alone for the rest of the afternoon until she got a text from Carmella about meeting up for dinner. She stepped outside to take a break and answer the text, and she smiled briefly at Finn to let him know he was welcome to join her. The first thing he did was ask,

"Hey, I didn't make you uncomfortable earlier did I?"

"No, I promise, not even a little bit. I just need some time to think if that's okay."

"Of course. Do you want me to see if I can crash with Sami tonight?"

"No Finn, I'm not kicking you out of your room after you offered me a place to stay."

"I know. I just really don't want you to be unhappy, and that offer is what got us into this mess in the first place."

"Do you regret it?"

"Regret what?"

"Wanting me?"

"No," he said emphatically. "Never," and he stepped closer. She replied,

"I don't either, and I'm not unhappy, just unsure. Give me a little bit to clear my head and we can talk. It's kind of hard to think straight when you're so close, you know." He grinned sweetly at that, relief evident that she was feeling the same.

"Alright, here," he held out the room key. "Are you sure you're okay with staying with me tonight?"

"I promise. I'll see you at the show, and then we can meet back there after."

"I guess I will see you later then." She opened her arms slightly to see if he was open to a hug. He stepped in and wrapped her in his arms tightly for a moment then stepped back, smiled, and went back inside.

Bayley met up with Carmella, Enzo, and Cass for dinner. When she was asked about where she'd stayed the night before she'd kept it vague, but assured them that she'd been fine. Enzo and Cass had accepted her answer at face value, Carmella didn't say anything, but she'd given her a look that had told Bayley that she was going to grill her more once they were alone. Sure enough, as soon as they were at the show and on their way to the locker room Carmella said,

"Alright, spill girl. I can tell something's happened." She tried to explain everything to Carmella, but since she'd had to leave everything out about the demon, she'd had to explain it as more of a 'they'd just realized how attracted they were to each other through the awkwardness of sharing a room' kind of thing. Luckily there was enough truth to it that Carmella didn't catch on to the fact that she wasn't telling the whole story.

"Well girl, I say go for it if that's what you want. Do you want it?"

"God yes. I'm just worried that it's too soon. I was with Derek for years and it's only been a few months since we broke up. Not to mention I technically still live with him."

"I told you you should have taken care of that weeks ago."

"I know. I'm just home so little lately. I really haven't had time to find a new place or deal with the hassle of moving."

"Well that's definitely inconvenient, but I wouldn't let it stop you. You should probably let him know as soon as possible though."

"No kidding. That is if I can even remember my own name. God, when he looks at me all I want to do is fall into bed without thinking, and we haven't even kissed yet!"

"Damn girl, I've never heard you talk about anyone like that before. You definitely can't let this go, especially over that idiot that couldn't appreciate just how amazing you are."

"Aww, thanks girl, and you're right I really can't." Carmella hugged Bayley and they moved on to getting ready for the night. Bayley was glad she was able to talk it out with her friend. She was completely sure of what she wanted, now she just had to bite the bullet and tell him. She only saw Finn briefly at the show though. She smile at him reassuringly when they passed, but he smiled back distractedly. She could tell he was in his zone before a match so she decided to head back to the hotel to wait on him once she was released.

When Finn came in the door at the hotel he looked completely exhausted. Bayley was sitting cross-legged on the bed reading and she smiled at him in greeting. He smiled back at her, toed off his shoes, and dropped his bag by the dresser. He nodded at the bed next to her and she patted it lightly indicating he was welcome to join her. He sat down next to her, leaned back against the headboard and sighed. She turned towards him so they were facing each other and she was curled up partially on her side. She said,

"You look tired."

"Yeah. I had a title match tonight with Joe," she smiled in sympathy. She knew that a champion could never let their guard down, even in a house show match.

"Are you still okay with having that talk?"

"Yeah. No matter how tired I am, it's all I've been able to think about all day."

"Yeah, me too."

"I know you needed time to think, and you might have already made your decision, but I just want to make it clear in case it wasn't earlier that I want this between us. I want to see if we could be as amazing together as I think we could be. I really don't want to have to shove these feelings back in a box like they were before, but if that is your decision, I promise I will respect it and I won't stop being your friend."

"I appreciate that, but I do know you're serious about this. I wouldn't have even needed time to think if it weren't for outside circumstances that I need to tell you about. You see I don't know if you knew about the guy I was seeing a while back, but we were together a long time, and it's really only been a few months since we split. I wasn't sure this was the right thing for me so soon after the break up," she explained.

"So have you decided?" he asked anxiously.

"Yeah. I can't walk away from this, from you, now that I know that it's there."

"You're sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure," she said looking him the eyes. He grinned from ear to ear, then surprised her by cupping her face with one hand and taking her lips with his. Her eyes closed automatically and she couldn't help but be caught up in the feel of his mouth on hers. Her heart pounding, she sunk into his embrace. She felt like she was floating, and she had to bring herself back down to earth. She knew that she had to finish her story so she gently pulled away.

"Is something wrong," he asked at her retreat.

"No, but there is more I have to tell you, and you're probably not going to like it."

"What?" he asked wearily.

"Well I might, kind of, sort of, um, still live with my ex."

"What? Why?"

"Well you know how crazy our schedule has been, and I thought he would be the one to move out since I was the one who got the apartment for us. He didn't take me seriously at first that we were done, and once he realized I wasn't going to take it back he turned into an ass about, well, everything. Since both our names are on the lease there's nothing else I can do but move out myself, and I just really have not had the time."

"Well, you're right about one thing, I don't like it, but I know you're not the kind of person who would mess around like that. I would like you to take care of it as soon as possible now that you have a compelling reason to, but I'm not going to change my mind," he paused for a second. She saw the darkness in his eyes for just a moment and knew the demon must have had some kind of input. She was quickly learning to recognize the demon within the man. When he continued he said, "Is he going to be there when I drop you off tomorrow?"

"Yeah, probably, every time I stop by it seems like he's there."

"On second thought I have an idea I want to run by you, but if you don't want to, no pressure, okay?"

"Okay," she said unsure of where he was going.

"What would you think about staying with me until you can find a new place?"

"Are you sure? You don''t think that's moving too fast?

"I don't think so, not for me at least. If it feels that way to you then it's okay, but it would just be temporary and, I swear, no pressure to do anything you're not ready for either. The demon and I are a lot more content to just hold you now that we know that you are ours. If I can stop him from going too far when he his hell-bent and determined on claiming you, I can certainly keep him from pushing you too fast. I'd just rather have you near, I'm not ready to be so far apart now that I've found you. If it means you're also not near him, well that's just icing on the cake. Do you think it's too fast?"

"I feel like we're on a roller coaster that keeps picking up speed, and I don't know how or when it's going to stabilize. It's overwhelming and scary and amazing, but I wouldn't change it. As far as staying with you I probably should feel like it's too soon, but no, I don't. I feel the need to be close to you too, and it would be a relief to not have to avoid home." He looked relieved that she had agreed and smiled that slow, sexy smile of his that made her want to melt inside. He asked,

"So are we good? No other issues to address?"

"No, I don't think so," she replied and he looked at her, his eyes flashing with intensity.

"Then if you don't mind, I'm going to go back to kissing you now," he didn't give her a chance to reply, claiming her mouth with his and pulling her closer. As he was kissing her his hands ran over her back and arms. His touch was a lot less aggressive than the demon's had been that first time, but it set her skin on fire just as easily. She grew bolder exploring with her own hands, making him gasp into her mouth. They lay on the bed kissing, touching, breathing heavy and hearts pounding, for what could have been minutes or hours, neither kept track. Eventually Finn pulled away slowly and they lay togther catching their breaths.

Once they could function again, they parted to change into more comfortable clothing. Bayley knew she was playing with fire, but couldn't help herself from asking if he would share the bed with her again. She was sure he would bring up the conversation they'd had that morning, but he didn't say a word, simply climbed in with her and pulled her into his arms.

Bayley woke again the next morning to nuzzling on her neck, but this time it was more affectionate than sexual. Finn was holding her, but loosely enough to not be constricting, and she shifted easily to a more comfortable position. She signed in contentment, and let herself get lost in thought. She never in a million years would have guessed that this is where she would be two days ago, but she was happy with it none the less. She knew in her heart that this deep connection that she shared with Finn was what she had been searching for all along.

Growing up her love of wrestling and her easy going personality seemed to always make her the girl that guys wanted to talk to and hang out with, but never the one they wanted to be with. Now looking back, she could see that when she'd met her ex that she might have settled for the first man who'd paid her any real attention. She'd been so young and inexperienced. She wished she could just call it first love and not feel like she'd wasted so much time, but she wasn't sure that there had ever been any real love between them.

He'd never quite got her passion for wrestling, and why it was so important to her. For her whether she was wrestling in front of ten people, a hundred people, or a thousand, it was her dream and she was going to make it happen one way or another. When she'd been invited to train at the performance center, he'd offered to move with her, but then he'd treated it like he was making a major sacrifice and that she owed him for it.

That had been the beginning of the end of their relationship. As she'd branched out, becoming closer to other wrestlers and immersed in the lifestyle, he ex had become more and more jealous and controlling. It had been particularly important to her to connect with the wrestlers like Finn who understood what it was like to chase this as life long dream, and even those who hadn't dreamed about it since childhood showed her that she didn't have to be ashamed of it, nor her dedication to it. The members of the roster had come from all walks of life, but they'd all supported and encouraged each other. Her ex had twisted that into her being too close.

It had taken her a lot longer than it should have before she was able to see how unhealthy the relationship was, but once she had, she wasted no time in ending it. In the past few years she'd grown up a lot and accepted herself for who she was. She'd learned that she was a lot stronger than she'd thought, and she wasn't going to let her ex hold her back.

It still worried her a little that everything with Finn was happening so fast, but she also couldn't see how they could possibly slow it down. At least she felt like she really knew Finn. She'd worked with him, trained with him, and spent time together as friends before all of this happened. She knew the kind of person he was. She knew that there was no one else in the world who could get her absolute dedication to wrestling and her career the way Finn could. She also knew that he was a sweet, sometimes shy, sometimes goofy guy who had a good heart. She may have only just been introduced to the aspect of the demon, but she also felt like she'd already known that part of him in a way. It was easy to see now in his drive and intensity, in that slinking predator-like way he sometimes carried himself, and in the powerful aura that surrounded him that had nothing to with his physical strength.

Finn was a very attractive man, but she knew it was that dichotomy of endearing shyness and intense power that drew her in. She could only hope they were on the right path because she knew it would be all too easy to fall head over heels for him. Bayley was pulled from her thoughts by Finn stirring and awakening. Turning to face him she said,

"Morning sleepyhead." She smiled at his sleepy-eyed look and he replied huskily,

"Morning beautiful." He smiled slowly at her and pulled her flush up against him. He kissed her forehead and then her lips softly before burrying his face against her neck and collarbone. His beard prickled against her skin, but she didn't mind. His sweet, unconsious affection was a revelation after her past experiences.

They lay curled up and content for quite awhile before the call of nature forced them to get up for the day. They took turns with the bathroom and got their things together, deciding to grab breakfast on the road. In no time at all they were settled in Finn's car and on their way back to Orlando. They were quiet for the first hour, still waking up. Bayley mostly spent the time on her phone while Finn drove. As the day wore on they chatted about inconsequential things until they started to get closer to home and Finn asked,

"How do you want to handle everything? I've got enough room in here that we can probably pick up most of your clothes and personal items if that's what you want."

"I should probably get as much as I can. I boxed up the collectibles and valuables and left them at Carmella's after the first trip I made when we broke up. When I got back the first time, the apartment was trashed and I really didn't trust him, and while most of the furniture is technically mine, I don't plan to claim it."

"Why?"

"Believe me you'll see when we get there. I really don't want it back."

"You don't mind that I come in with you?"

"No I'd prefer it if it's okay. He'll be a lot easier to deal with with someone else there."

"I don't mind, in fact I would prefer it too," he answered and she saw his eyes flash briefly, and prickling heat raced up the back of her neck for a moment then dissipated. She rolled her eyes a little, but smiled at that. She didn't mind Finn or the demon putting a little fear into her ex.

She was honestly still half-hoping that her ex wouldn't be there when they got there just so they could get in and out quickly, but she had to admit that the look on her ex's face when they walked in was completley worth it. Finn went full-on predator mode, and she thought her ex was going to soil himself. She knew that it had to have been damn near close. After all she knew just how scary the demon was, and when you combined his devastating power with the handsome, confidence of Finn, she knew it must of have been overwhelming.

Finn played it cool, barely acknowledging her ex while being sweet and attentive to her. Her ex stood, gaping at them and they walked past him to get to work. Finn asked how he could help, and she directed him to retrieve boxes from the hall closet. When she walked into the bedroom, she wrinkled her nose in disgust. The whole apartment was a pigsty, but the bedroom in particular stank. She retrieved suitcases from her bedroom closet and began packing her clothes. Thankfully it looked like her closet had remained untouched and everything in it was still in good shape. Finn brought in the boxes and she directed him to clear her personal items off the dresser and out of the bathroom. As they finished with each box they piled them next to the door.

When they were done inthe bedroom, they walked back out into the main area of the apartment. Finn asked what else she wanted, both of them still ignoring her ex, but he finally seemed to wake up when Finn told her he could hire someone to come get anything else to be put in storage. Her ex spluttered,

"Now wait just a minute. You know half of all of this stuff is mine, and Bayley what the hell are you doing with this guy? Where did you meet him, a prison? I can't believe you come waltzing in here without a word and," he didn't get to finish his sentence because Bayley reared back and punched him dead in the mouth. He immediately dropped to the ground like dead weight and started howling like a baby.

The demon had been chomping at the bit for Finn to hit the little weasel since they'd walked in the door and saw the state of the place. When Bayley surprised both of them and did just that he couldn't help but burst out laughing. Bayley grinned at him, shook her hand a little, and walked away to finish her packing.

Finn sobered instantly and stood over top of the snivelling man. He let loose some of his control, his eyes flashing with the demon, and in a deep growl he threatened,

"If you ever speak to her like that again, hell if you ever come near her again, you will beg for escape from the hell I'll put you through." He could detect the hint of urine, and he growled again, this time in disgust, and he stalked away intent on finding his mate. The thought of his mate instantly brought Finn back into control. He knew he was going to have to watch the demon carefully. He was pretty sure he was already half in love with Bayley, but he knew she wasn't ready to be thought of as the demon's mate.

He helped Bayley haul her things down to his car and promised he would have somebody out as soon as possible to get the rest. Neither said another word to her ex, and they left as soon as they finished. When they arrived back at his place he was weirdly anxious, hoping he hadn't left any messes he couldn't remember, and worrying about whether he should give her a tour and whether he should he have her put her things in his room or the spare bedroom. He reminded himself that Bayley had been to his place before a few times, and that he never left messes when he went on the road because he knew that that would drive him crazy when he got home. He bit the bullet and decided that he wanted her in his room, so that was where he would put her unless she protested. As they walked in the door carrying boxes he said,

"Let's take these to the bedroom. I can clear you out some space in my closet, and I already have a couple of empty drawers in the dresser and in the bathroom. If there's anything you won't need to unpack you can store it in the spare bedroom. Is that okay?" She looked at him dazedly, he thought she might also be feeling this weird anxiety now that they finally made it here and that that this was actually happening. She nodded to indicate that it was fine, and they got to work. They had her unpacked and settled in by dinnertime. The demon practically purred in contentment at having Bayley here in his home, though Finn was still feeling strange. In some ways it was so strange simply because it wasn't. It felt right. They put together a light dinner, and knowing that it would back to the grindstone in the morning, they decided to veg for a while on TV, then called it an early night.

Over the next several weeks they learned to adjust to each other's idiosyncrasies, though they found that they fit together surprisingly well. Finn had lived by himself for years, but found it was easier than he thought it would be to have another person sharing his space. He knew that had a lot to do with who he was sharing it with. They were content to spend most evenings in together, doing nothing special but enjoying each others company, and since their hectic schedules didn't slow down any they were grateful for those evenings when they could get them. Finn knew that if he hadn't asked Bayley to stay with him that he would have hardly ever seen her.

The demon was frustrated with how much time they had to spend apart, but the demon was finding a lot to be frustrated with. There had been a lot of adjustments that Finn and the demon had had to work through together. The demon considered Bayley his mate and had trouble understanding the restrictions of day to day life and the way things were in the real world. When Bayley asked to contribute financially, the demon had protested. To him she was theirs to protect and take care of and should not need to pay for anything. Finn knew that this explanation would not go over so well, so he asked Bayley to take over the grocery shopping. This had worked out even better than expected. Bayley seemed to really enjoy doing it, and it had always been a task that he'd found tedious, but the demon grumbled at the compromise anyway.

Though they had agreed that the living arrangement was temporary, both Finn and the demon were blindsided when Bayley mentioned going apartment hunting. Everything had worked out so well since Bayley had moved in that they had let themselves forget the temporary nature of the arrangement. Finn agreed to help Bayley even though it was the last thing he wanted to do. The demon had not been so quick to give in. He could not claim his mate, but at least she was where she was supposed to be, at least he could hold and protect her at night. Anything else was unacceptable, and he could not tolerate it.

Finn knew that the demon was serious. That this was something he should not force the demon to go through if he could help it, but above all he wanted what was best for Bayley. She was the one who brought up apartment hunting. If she wasn't ready for this to be permanent then he knew he could do nothing but go along with it. For the demon's sake he knew that he needed to at least ask if she would consider it, but he was terrified that her answer would be no. After all, he and Bayley had made the switch from friends to more to living together in the space of two days. Maybe to him it felt like it had worked out perfectly, even that it was meant to be, but maybe she wasn't ready for it yet. If that was the case he would have to respect it no matter how miserable he or the demon would be.

He agonized over it for days. It was easy when he and Bayley were together to push it to the back of his mind. He felt like he couldn't get enough of her and it seemed like she felt the same. When they were together the whole world faded away. but when they were apart he could hardly think of anything else. He knew that the demon's anxiety over it was adding to his own and he resolved to bring it up as soon as they had a day off together.

It was the following Sunday when that finally happened. At breakfast Bayley asked if he wanted to look at apartments with her. He hesitated for a moment before he said,

"There's something I've been meaning to talk to you about." Bayley looked worried at his change in subject. She asked,

"What's up?"

"I know you've been looking for apartments lately, but I feel like I need to let you know that the thought of you moving out bothers me a whole lot more than I thought it would."

"What do you mean? You were the one who said this was just temporary."

"At the time I thought it would be. I thought that's what you and I both wanted. It's one thing to for you to stay for a little while until you found a new place, but actually moving in together the day after we started dating just sounds crazy. I didn't realize how easy it would be to get attached to you being here, but now all I can think about is how horrible it would be to come home and have you gone. I know this has happened so fast. I know that this is insane, I do, but it's also right, and I was hoping you felt the same way."

"Oh, Finn, I do, but it's just... this is just crazy. How can it possibly be this easy? I thought you wanted it to be temporary. I haven't even let myself think beyond that. The thought of moving out has been making me miserable too, but the thought of staying is a little terrifying. How do we explain this to anyone?" Finn's chest tightened. It felt like she was going to say no, but she must have seen something in his expression because she rushed to finish, "God, I'm messing this up. I don't mean that that isn't what I want. I want nothing more. I didn't let myself even think it was possible to have it, and now I'm scared that something is going to go wrong, but please don't think I don't want it."

Finn and the demon felt a flood of relief. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her. Both the demon and Finn had control so the kiss was aggressive, not soft, but she responded with the same intensity. For a little while he was lost in the euphoria of relief and the intoxicating feeling of Bayley's mouth on his. He pulled her up against him so he could feel all of her. He ran his hands under her shirt so he could feel the bare skin of her back, then scratched his nails across it gently enough to not harm her, but sharp enough to cause her to gasp and arch into him. He could feel the demon's will to claim his mate. He was urging Finn to move them to the bedroom, and he had to pull back some of his control to keep the demon from pushing things too far.

Finn eventually pulled away, resting his forehead against Bayley's, both of them breathing heavy. After a moment he spoke, his voice still deep and husky from desire,

"I know this is scary, but it's way too important to let the what ifs stop us. As long as you are with me, then I'm all in. We are going to have to be honest with each other when we get scared or overwhelmed. We can't let the world, real or imagined, take this away."

"I agree. Oh god, the thought of not sleeping in your arms was driving me crazy. I can't imagine how we got this lucky, how, in so little time, you became so important that I can't sleep without you, but from now on I'm going to stop questioning it. I'm with you, I'm all in." Finn couldn't help but kiss her again, though this time it was hard and fast, he couldn't let himself get lost again just yet.

"There's some things I've been holding back about the demon. I'm not a hundred percent sure that you're ready to hear them, but I don't want to keep things from you either."

"Does it have anything to do with why I've never seen the demon since that first night. I know how to see him in you. I know when you give him more control. When we stand close I can feel him. I can feel him and you and how intertwined you are, but I've never seen him since that first night."

"A little yeah. There's a lot I have to explain to get there though."

"Well I guess I'm going to have to be ready. After finding out that the demon really existed, I didn't think there was much more you could tell me to surprise me, but the way you are talking it sounds like it might, so I'm going to open my mind and my heart. I promise I'm with you no matter what." Finn looked at her. Her nose was crinkled up adorably, he knew it was her determined face and that he had prepared her as much as he could.

"I guess I should start with the fact that the demon has never been interested in a woman before. He's never cared who I dated, or kissed, or about sex or anything. My whole life I thought he was just incapable of caring about or understanding that part of human nature. Then I met you, and I was instantly captivated by you, but I was so used to pushing attraction aside that I thought it would be easy to do that with you too. I couldn't help myself though. Every time we would hang out together with our friends I would find something else I liked about you or I would notice how pretty you looked when you laughed, and I would feel myself having to start all over trying to push you back into that friends-only box in my head. And he noticed, believe me. He kept wondering what was so different about you, why I felt so much more drawn to you.

At first he was worried that I would let the distraction bleed over into my drive to reach the top, but then one day I saw you training in the gym at the PC and you were just so focused, but you were also being you, infectious and encouraging to everyone else training, and it's like something awoke in him. Suddenly he was captivated too, and if it was hard to stay away from you before, it was almost impossible after that. He became curious about all of those things he'd never paid attention to before. He wanted to know why people kissed, and why humans were so obsessed with sex-until then he'd thought of it as just another bodily function. It was definitely a learning experience, for him and for me.

And then after that first night at the hotel I found out that the reason why he'd never cared before was because he didn't need to care until it was the right person. That's the part I've been so hesitant to tell you. The demon sees you as his mate, as our mate. Something about the nature of the demon means that he only has sexual interest when he finds that connection, and I'm pretty sure it's a one time deal.

You haven't seen the demon in his shadow form because I'm keeping a tighter control on him than I've ever had to in my entire life. He wants to claim you, to make you ours forever, and he made that decision the very first night in the hotel. So I know that everything has been happening so fast, but this whole time I've been straining to keep the breaks on him, to keep him from pushing us too far, too fast and scaring you away, and I hope to god that admitting all of this isn't going to do the same." Bayley looked stunned. She wasn't running away, but she wasn't talking either. Finn could feel his heart pounding so hard that he felt like he was in a tunnel, like the sound of the silence was louder than a freight train. When she finally spoke it felt like all of the air had been sucked out of the room and then exploded back in again, his vision and hearing suddenly coming back into focus.

"Wow. Oh wow, um, god. Yeah, you definitely surprised me. I wasn't expecting that at all. Just give me a second to process, okay?" She looked panicked.

"Yeah. Yeah that's fine," he managed to say even though he still felt like he might shatter instantly if she didn't reassure him soon that he hadn't lost her. She was thinking hard and absently biting at her thumb. She was so lost in thought she didn't notice the skin was becoming red and inflamed. Finn knew that if she didn't stop soon she would break the skin, so he gently pulled her hand away. She looked down and saw what he'd done and smiled softly at him.

"You're not going to scare me away Finn. We've come too far already. I'm just completely blown away right now, and I guess I have questions I need answered."

"There's nothing I could or would keep from you at this point, whatever you want."

"When you say that this is a one time deal and that he wants to claim me, what exactly does that mean?"

"It means that we can't have sex until you are a hundred percent sure that the demon and I are what you want for good."

"You mean like forever?"

"Yeah, essentially. I know it's a lot of pressure, and that if we were normal people in normal circumstances that it would be way too early to even think about forever, but he's incapable of anything else, and there is no going back once he claims you."

"What does that mean?

"Honestly, I can't say I know exactly myself. I've never done it before obviously, but the best I can get from him is that it involves sex and, um, biting? Maybe? I'm fairly certain that it's something we will enjoy when the time comes, but I know that we can't go there until you're sure."

"You keep saying until I'm sure. Don't you have to be sure too?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?"

"Um, yeah, I think so." She said, but with some hesitation.

"Because I am sure. I know you're it for me. The demon and I are too intertwined for it to be any other way. That day in the gym when everything changed for the demon, I think the reason why it changed is because I fell a little bit in love with you, and I haven't stopped falling since."

Bayley's heart was pounding in her chest at what felt like a hundred miles per hour. She was so overwhelmed she could barely think straight. Her brain kept getting stuck on forever and looping back over and over again. Forever was a long time and it involved a lot of decisions that neither of them had ever talked about before. It involved kids and marriage and where they wanted to grow old (they were from two different countries on two different sides of the world!). It assumed that they were in love with each other, which at least might be true-oh god, he was in love with her, he'd started falling in love with her long before that night in the hotel-but she had just barely begun to admit to herself that she'd fallen. It was a big jump from I love him to, well, forever.

She'd promised that she was all in, that he was't going to scare her off, and he wasn't, she wasn't changing her mind, he just had a tendency to get so intense so fast and turn her whole world on it's head before she had time to adjust. She knew a lot of that had to do with the demon and his impetuous nature, and she was in love with him, all of him including the demon, and that meant dealing with and understanding that nature.

She looked at him. He was laser focused on her, his jaw tight, his face devoid of all color, and his hands were clenched so tightly that the knuckles were white from the pressure. She knew she must have been silent for a long time. Despite how tense he was, he'd waited patiently for her brain to catch up. She smiled, took his hand, and rubbed her thumb over his knuckles until they relaxed. She looked him in the eye and said,

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yeah, okay, we'll figure it out together. I know now that that next step in our relationship holds a lot more weight than it already did, and that there's a lot of things we will have to talk about before we get there, but I wouldn't have made that decision lightly anyway. Can we just table the rest of this conversation though until everything's had a chance to sink in?"

"Yeah of course," he said though he looked a little let down. She knew Finn was a full steam ahead kind of guy, who tackled everything with a drive that contradicted his otherwise somewhat soft-spoken, and often adorably silly personality. At first she thought that the disappointment came from his need to have everything settled. It was after they'd agreed to spend the afternoon watching movies that her brain finally caught up. They were cuddled on the couch, the tension mostly gone after they'd had a play fight over the covers (she'd been known to be a bit silly herself), when she realized that she had never actually told him how she felt. He'd admitted to being in love with her and she'd just said 'okay'! She turned to him and reached up placing her hand on his face. He turned his face toward her and smiled softly. She kissed his lips briefly then said,

"I'm in love with you too." His eyes, his whole face seemed to light up. He kissed her hard, pulling her into his lap. She was overwhelmed by the joy and passion that he imparted into his kiss, which quickly turned to heat and desire. Hot open palms ran up the bare skin of her back under her shirt. Their mouths broke apart to catch frantic breaths, and he instead placed his mouth against her pulse, alternately sucking hard and biting gently, causing her to gasp and shudder. She ran her hands up his chest and then down his back. She tugged at the hem of his shirt, and he quickly helped her remove it. She raked her nails up his back causing him to moan and throw his head back. She took advantage and placed an open-mouthed kiss on his neck before he reasserted control and claimed her mouth again. She could feel the heat and pressure of his arousal against her which caused sparks of desire to burst in her lower belly and shoot up through her body.


	2. Cravin' You

From that point on it became a lot harder for them to put a halt on the passion between them. Each kiss was like a drug that kept pulling them in deeper and deeper and stopping was the worst kind of withdrawal. Now that they knew they couldn't take it further it seemed to make the desire, the craving to do so ten times worse. Bayley always felt guilty afterwards too because she knew it was even more difficult for Finn than it was for her, and he never complained about it. Before she'd found out that sex came with a 'forever' clause attached to it she'd thought that they were ready, that _she_ was ready, and that it was only a matter of time. Now it felt like they had to overcome the insurmountable mountain that was her fear that was standing in the way.

She knew that it was her hangup, her fear that was stopping them, but that didn't make their desire disappear, it didn't stop her from wanting him. She had to admit though that other than feeling like she was going to die of sexual frustration, just about everything else was damn near perfect. Feeling his love for her (which felt amazing and magical and unbelievable all at once), being in love with him, knowing that she could stay and knowing that that was what Finn wanted too had all added up to make a very happy Bayley. That edge of panic at the thought of forever was still lingering, and it still occasionally threatened to overwhelm her. She would remind herself that Finn really did love her, that they didn't have to come to the final decision right away, and that he wasn't going to walk away just because she hadn't agreed immediately. For the most part, though, she was able to push it to the back of her mind and enjoy the contentment that settled over them.

Even life at work seemed to take on a rosy glow, though at first they had experienced a little bit of a hiccup. When they'd started dating they'd kept quiet about their relationship, and most had been completely unaware that anything had changed between them. It was different though after they'd admitted their feelings. Suddenly it was a lot harder for either to conceal those feelings and they inevitably started getting looks from the other wrestlers and trainers. Sami and Carmella had known since the beginning and both supported them, but those that didn't know them as well were more likely to listen to the rumors that had begun to spread like wildfire. A lot of people remembered that Bayley had been in a serious relationship at one point, but few had known that she'd split with him months before, and so many assumed that Finn had broken them up or that he and Bayley were having an affair.

They'd both had to tolerate and try to diffuse the whispers, something neither enjoyed. They preferred to keep their personal relationships private and were uncomfortable with it being discussed so publicly, and while it wasn't easy for Finn or Bayley, for the demon it was unbearable. He often struggled to understand human nature and it both baffled and angered him that they would talk about his mate that way. His instinct to protect her was inevitably going to come to a head at some point, and it did one night in the locker room before a show.

Finn was finishing up putting on his gear when he caught the sound of a few of the newer trainees laughing and snickering in a corner. His demon heightened hearing picked up on one of them calling Bayley his 'whore', and the demon reacted before Finn even knew what hit him. He leapt across the room his eyes going completely black and attacked the boy who'd uttered the offense. Finn regained control when Cass tried to pull him away. He was breathing hard, his eyes still dark, and he could feel the simmering rage, the instinct to rip the boy to shreds. He realized that he had one hand grasped around the boys throat, and that he'd been using the other to brutalize his face. The boy was coughing and choking, his face already beginning to swell. Finn growled at him and said,

"Never let me hear you talk about her that way again."

"Okay," he said coughing and gasping for breath, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He managed to choke out. Even without the demon in control Finn was itching to attack again just to hammer the point home, but Cass continued to pull him away, and said,

"Come on, back off man, he's not worth it." He released the boy's throat and let Cass pull him away, thankfully just in time. The commotion had attracted trainers and security, but by the time they arrived the crowd had dispersed. When questioned the boy had said it was just a misunderstanding. He hadn't pointed any fingers, and no one else volunteered either, so they let it drop. If anyone noticed that Finn had moved unnaturally fast or how dark his eyes had been they didn't say anything.

That night when he admitted what had happened to Bayley, she simply rolled her eyes and got an ice pack for his swollen hand, which she kissed gently as she doctored it. Even though the medical staff had already looked at his hand (while blatantly ignoring where the injury came from) he enjoyed her attention and couldn't help but pull her into a quick kiss when she was done. For a moment he drank in her kiss, savoring her soft lips and the way she felt pressed against him, before he forced himself to break it off. She was reluctant to pull away as well which made it even harder. They'd found it more and more difficult to control themselves lately, and they'd had to be a lot more careful about how far they let things go. They'd tried to get creative and find ways that they could enjoy being together without putting themselves into a sticky situation, and he could tell that they had already reached that point this evening, so he pulled out the stack of board games that they had accumulated. Bayley sighed, but smiled at him none the less and helped him set up their current favorite, Scrabble. The game served to distract them for a little while though inevitably the words became more and more suggestive and eventually they abandoned the game in favor of sleep.

The fallout from the incident in the locker room caught up with him the next day. All of his friends to that point had kept silent knowing he liked his privacy, but when word spread about what had happened it was too much for them to ignore and suddenly even they were asking what was going on. Cass admitted in private that he'd known about them for a while, and he warned him to talk to Enzo as soon as possible if wanted to keep things private. Enzo had a big mouth that was as much a nuisance as it was entertaining, but if you specifically asked him not to talk about something he was surprisingly good at keeping secrets. The key was to get to him before he ran his mouth about it. However, it quickly became obvious that keeping things quiet was a lost cause, and talking to Enzo became unnecessary.

The original rumors had died out, but now everyone assumed (correctly this time) that they were together. At least now the things that were being said about them painted the two of them in a much better light. In large part due to Finn's extreme reaction, opinion had flipped from thinking they were cheating with each other to thinking that they were happily in love and on the verge of being engaged (which was again far too close to the truth.) If anyone thought any differently they certainly were't going to say anything for fear of bringing Finn's wrath down on them. Finn was an established champion, and his skill in the ring was unquestionable, but the incident solidified his reputation as someone not to be messed with, and no one was willing to test him.

With the cat out of the bag so to speak, the pair grew a lot more comfortable sharing their affection at work and in public. Finn suffered a minor ankle injury that put him out of action for a short time, but enjoyed being fussed over by Bailey, and got a sweet surprise in the form of her doing his entrance to cheer him up. They spent a quiet evening in for Valentines, and Finn was back in the ring within a couple of weeks. At house shows they were given a little freedom to goof off, and they had fun reenacting famous romantic movie scenes, which the crowds ate up. The couples happiness was infectious and seemed to spread to everyone around them as well. As champions they were defacto leaders and both put their whole beings into everything they did, bringing out the best in everyone around them.

The only blip on the radar of their happiness was the demon's desire to complete the claim. He couldn't understand the couple's reluctance to go through with it especially because they struggled so much with having to pull away from each other at night. Both were on the edge of giving in, and usually one of them had to play the responsible one and stop the both of them from crossing the line, but it was only a matter of time before neither had the willpower to do so. The demon wasn't helping the situation either. He often used his influence over Finn and his now intimate knowledge of Bayley to try and orchestrate them into situations where they would give in. Neither was willing to give up sleeping in the same bed, but the demon was pushing their boundaries there too. Often times a simple kiss good night turned into making out, which inevitably led to clothes on the floor without either meaning for it to go that far.

It had even gotten to the point that he and Bayley had had to stop working out together. Finn was too distracted with watching Bayley, and it had proven that working out with a hard on was neither productive nor comfortable. Thankfully Sami was willing to rearrange his schedule so that he had a workout buddy again, and he had even refrained from giving him too much flack over why he was no longer working out with his girlfriend.

The ever present tension was causing them to have meaningless spats that left them both irritable. That morning they'd blown up up at each other over nothing and he'd been off kilter ever since. He was supposed to be meeting Sami, but he'd forgotten his bag and had to turn around. He'd already been running behind, so he knew he wasn't going to make it on time. As he got out of the car he grabbed his phone to text Sami and let him know he was going to be late. He was concentrating on his phone and not paying attention as he walked through the bedroom door. He looked up searching for his bag and almost dropped his phone. Bayley was standing in front of the long mirror wrapped in a towel. She was humming and absently running a comb through her damp hair. She was a sight to behold, all bare, damp skin and raw beauty.

Not taking his eyes off of her he dropped his phone on the nearest available surface. He stalked towards Bayley driven by the instinctual urges of the demon combined with the fierce love and desire that he felt for her. She turned at the last second making a sound of surprise. He continued forward backing her into the wall and like a distant echo he heard the comb clatter to the floor. He grabbed both of her hands, pulled them above her head, and pinned the up against the wall. He slowly threaded his fingers with hers palm to palm, and pressed his body into hers.

He heard a low moan and a shuddered intake of break. He claimed her lips with his own, drinking in her sweetness. His tongue pressed against her lips seeking entrance, which she granted. For a moment they dueled for dominance before she ceded victory allowing him complete control. Her body melted into him and he released her hands so that he could cup her bare ass beneath the towel and lift her up. She instinctively wrapped her legs around him which was what he wanted and he pressed them back against the wall to keep them steady. In the process they lost the towel to the floor, but Bayley didn't seem to notice or care. Her elevated position gave him prime access to her neck and collarbone, and he began placing wet kisses and quick nips along her skin. After each kiss and bite combination he would blow gently on the sensitized skin causing her to shudder against him. Though this was not the first time he'd had the pleasure of seeing Bayley topless, he relished the opportunity to feast upon her breasts. He kissed his way down her neck until he reached her nipple taking it into his mouth, sucking and gently biting until she was mewling in pleasure. She called out to god and raked her hands through his hair.

The shorts he was wearing had been intended for his workout, and they were thin enough that he could easily feel the damp inferno of her sex wrapped around him, everything lining up perfectly. She rocked against him causing delicious friction and they both moaned with pleasure. He gripped her ass firmly and moved them from the wall to the bed. Laying her down gently on the edge of the bed, he dropped to his knees on the floor and before either had time to think about it too much he began placing the same wet kisses and bites along her lower belly and inner thighs. She made a low keening sound in her throat, her head thrown back, and grasped the sheets under her hands.

He didn't hesitate to move to his final destination, placing an almost sweet kiss right over her clitoris, then he dipped his tongue into her tasting her unique flavor. She gasped and arched her hips off of the bed. He gripped her thighs firmly to keep her in place and began exploring to see what she enjoyed most alternating between using his tongue deep inside of her and sucking at her clit. Her reactions to both were gratifying. She began to shake, the keening growing louder and he used his fingers to replace his tongue so that he could give her both at once. Even with his strong grip on her, when she came it was so hard her whole body arched off the bed. She spasmed almost violently and he rode the climax out with her gentling his actions as she came down.

She collapsed boneless against the bed, and he couldn't help help but smile a little in satisfaction. He rubbed his face and beard against the sheets to clean it knowing they would have to be changed anyway. She didn't move for a little while, but when she started to stir she gripped about seeking him. She grasped a hold of his shirt and tugged at it trying to pull him up on the bed with her. He complied and joined her, pulling her still naked form into his arms. She sighed in contentment and despite the fact that he was hard enough to cut glass he couldn't help but feel contented himself. When Bayley finally spoke she said,

"Wow, that was amazing. Thank you."

"You are most welcome, love."

"I needed that."

"I know, we both did."

"You have got to be uncomfortable baby. I'm not opposed to returning the favor once I can, you know, move." The look she gave him told him that despite being fully satiated moments before that she would not only be 'not opposed' to it, but that she would very much enjoy it, which made it even harder to say,

"I appreciate that, but I don't think that's a good idea. I'm not sure I can control the demon well enough at this point to make that a safe option." She grimaced in sympathy. He was definitely uncomfortable, but he didn't regret what he'd done. The tension that had existed between them for the last several weeks had dissipated some and while he was under no illusion that that would last long he was happy to have some relief for now.

He knew he needed to find his phone, wherever it had landed and let Sami know he wasn't coming, but for now he was enjoying holding her like this too much.

She sighed again and he could tell her mood had shifted. She said,

"We need to have that talk we've been putting off."

"Yeah I know," Finn said. He was glad to hear her admit it because the primary reason they had been putting it off was because he'd been waiting for her to be ready. He knew that when he'd admitted to her about the nature of the demon and the claim that he had scared her even if she'd never said anything. He hadn't wanted to push her and so he'd let the subject go, hoping she would bring it up in her own time. He had to admit he'd begun to wonder if she would ever be ready, so he was relieved that she finally had. He'd been torn between not wanting to put any pressure on her and knowing that the longer they waited the more they risked running out of time. They'd both been with NXT a few years now, and there was just no way of knowing how long they had until one or the other was moved to the main roster. The demon had made it clear that while any type of split, no matter how temporary, was undesirable, they absolutely could not be split up too soon after the claim was completed nor was it acceptable that they be split up without the the claim in place.

Though the demon had always been a large part of the driving force in his career he knew that right now and more than likely for the rest of his life that Bayley would always come first. When it was all said and done he knew that if it came down between her and his career, she would come first for him too, so he did't have a problem with that, but the demon approached everything with a single mindedness that was blind to the bigger picture. He didn't understand that he couldn't just drop everything or quit unless there was no other option. Either way it didn't matter without taking into account what Bayley wanted too, so it still came down to having the talk.

With the combination of Finn's natural body heat and the demon's unnatural heat, Bayley could have comfortably stayed naked in his arms all day, but eventually they had to move. She got up to put her clothes on and he finally found his phone to give Sami a call. Sami had subtly teased him about why he was a no show, but didn't seem too put out, and they made plans to meet the next day instead. By the time he got off the phone Bayley was dressed and pulling her hair back. He walked up behind her, wrapped his arms around her and dropped a soft kiss on the nape of her neck. She turned her head to smile at him, and said,

"Ready?"

"Always," he said smiling back. They moved to the living room where they could sit comfortably together. Once they were settled in Finn asked,

"Is there something you want to start with?"

"I don't know. I guess we need to address our long term plans and wishes. If the claim is forever then that's pretty much like marriage right?" she hesitantly asked.

"Yeah I guess for the demon it's equivalent, except that there is no divorce from the claim, but just so we are clear here, the claim is for the demon and yeah, it's for me too because I need it just as much as he does, but that doesn't mean I don't want the human aspects of our relationship too. If we go through with this then I fully intend to marry you as well."

"Oh, um, wow," she said her voice going up a pitch.

"Hey don't panic, that wasn't a proposal, just a promise. We can take things one step at a time, and right now the claim has to come first, but you should know that that's what I intend."

"Okay."

"Are you all right so far?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry this is freaking me out. That I've been the one holding us back this whole time. I love you, and it's not like I don't want these things, it's just that we seem to do everything at lightning speed. My heart is with you all the way, but the rest of me is struggling to catch up."

"I know babe, you don't have to worry over it and there's no need to be sorry. It's natural for you to feel this way. If I was a normal guy without a demon influencing everything I do, I'd probably freak out too, but then if I didn't have the demon we wouldn't be here in the first place, and that I can't regret."

"Me either, I promise. No matter how much it scares me, I wouldn't trade it for the world."

"Okay, good, so one step down. Long term plans means more than marriage though, and I know you've had a lot on your mind, so whatever concerns you have let's talk them out now. I need you to be completely comfortable with this decision, and I'm not scared of the tough stuff. We can make this work, I promise."

"Okay, so um, kids?" She said still a little hesitant, but with more confidence creeping into her voice and expression.

"I like kids, love my nieces and nephews, kinda always saw myself as being a dad in the long run, so if that's what you want when we retire then I don't have a problem with it at all."

"Okay, I agree. Definitely want them just, you know, not for a while."

"See, we are on the same page as always," he said smiling at her. She gave him a look that told him she was on to his tactics, but smiled back none the less.

"You mentioned retiring, and I know that's one we don't have as much control over, but we probably should talk about it anyway."

"You're right we should, and you know this is actually one we've talked about before. We both know the reality of the business we work in, I know I'm hoping to get at least ten more years out of it at least, but much more than that is pushing it when you think of how long I've already been doing it. Did you have an ideal timeline in mind for yourself.?"

"I don't know, it's always been hard to see beyond getting here, and ever since I became a part of the four horsewomen my career has been snowballing forward. I've already come further than I ever really believed possible. I guess I really would like to be on the main roster, since that's been the goal all along, and I want to make more history with the my girls, push the boundaries like we've been doing this past year. As far as how long, I'd always just thought in terms of how long the'd have me. Most women in the past didn't get ten years, but yeah that sounds good to me."

"So we both want at least ten more years out of it, if we are lucky enough to get it."

"Yeah that sounds about right."

"Good, so after? I know what I've always had in mind, but I've never heard you talk about it."

"Honestly, that's because I haven't thought that far ahead, just a kind of a vague idea of maybe training or something similar. I thought I'd probably move home eventually, but it's never been a plan set in stone. I know you want to go back to Ireland, I've heard you mention it before, but do you know what you want to do?."

"Yeah, I kinda want to go back to where I started. I want to help kids who have that dream like I did to be able to get here. I thought I'd run a wrestling school, you know?"

"Yeah I can definitely see that. So I guess we move to Ireland and open a wrestling school then?"

"Hey just cause it's my dream doesn't mean you are stuck with it. Like I said, we can make it work. It's not like we aren't used to traveling. We can split our time between California and Ireland, and you can help me if that's what you want, but if you find something that calls to you more then we will figure out a way to balance it all."

"I kinda want to settle somewhere though, and I don't mind traveling, but that's one of the few things that I have been hoping for the future is to be able to spend less time in cars and on planes. I'd always assumed I would move home, but I think I could be okay with just visiting. Where you are from is kinda beautiful too, it wouldn't exactly be a hardship." Finn was surprised, but pleased that that was how she felt.

"Ireland it is then."

"You're right though, I can figure out what I want to do later, but helping train kids so they can follow their dream doesn't sound half bad and will definitely be one of the options I can consider. I've really enjoyed the leadership role I've had here in NXT and helping train the wrestlers coming up, so I think it might suit me"

"So we know what we want long term, do you have any concerns about short term?"

"Yeah, but I've been talking to a AJ Lee and a few others about how they handled it and what to watch out for. It will definitely make things more complicated balancing our schedules and travel, and still be able to see each other, but they all say that it's doable with a little extra planning." Finn was happy that even if she had been avoiding the subject until now that at least she had put thought into it. Something inside of him relaxed a little and he knew that this was going to work. He hadn't realized how anxious he had been that it wouldn't, that something would go wrong, or that fear would drive her away.

"I am nervous about the claim," she continued, "It's going to change things isn't it?"

"Yeah, it will, but I think it will be a good thing. It's going to connect you to me and the demon forever. The more insight he feels like letting me have the more I've been convinced that it will make us even stronger in the long run. He has warned me though that it will make us more susceptible at first. It's going to take a lot out of us, and at first we need to be together as much as possible."

"How are we going to time this then, we both have titles, we can't afford to be caught off guard."

"I know. It's been weighing on my mind ever since he told me, but there isn't another option. He says the sooner the better. We both have to go into it knowing we risk our titles."

"Oh god, I've got my toughest opponent I've ever had next. Asuka's no joke. If I go into it at anything less than a hundred percent, I won't have a chance. And Joe, I know you just barely survived him in London, how are you going to hold him off in Dallas if you are weakened?"

"I know babe, I know. We can wait until after Dallas, but the demon doesn't like it. I'm pretty sure until we do this he's not going to care much about either of our titles."

"Today's our last day off until after Mania, I'm thinking we're going to have to wait until then either way."

"You're right. The schedule should lighten up a little after too. Timing-wise it's our best option. It's still going to be risky though. Are you going to be okay with that?"

"Yeah. I know it's taken me a little while to accept it, but I'm ready now. I can't fathom this life without you, so there is no other way but forward. Losing is part of this business too, we both know that, I'm willing to risk it, I'm not willing to risk losing you." Finn was blown away. Just when he thought he couldn't possibly love her more, she snuck in and amazed him again. He reached over cupping her face with both hands and kissed her hard on the mouth. He poured his love and complete awe of her into it, bruising her lips with his. When she pulled back breathing hard he could see her love for him shining back at him.

The demon was surprisingly pleased. Finn thought he would give them more trouble because they were waiting another two weeks, but the demon was just happy they'd finally agreed and set a date. Without warning the demon took control,and before either knew what happened he leaned over and bit Bayley hard on the neck in the same spot that he had the first morning in the hotel. The bite was hard enough to draw blood and Finn could taste it on his lips when he took back control. Bayley cried out when it happened, though he knew her sounds well, and her cry was from pleasure not pain. She reached up and gingerly touched the bite, which was already healing, far too rapidly to be natural. She looked as stunned as Finn felt, and for a moment neither knew what to do.

Finn started ranting internally, pissed that the demon had given them no warning. It was obvious that for all the demon had revealed, he'd left out even more. The demon didn't respond, which made Finn even madder until something happened that left him in awe. He heard a tentative "Finn?" in his head. It sounded mostly like Bayley though just a little off. He crooked his head looking her in the eyes questioning her with his stare. He heard her again, "Finn, I can feel you." He tried responding 'talking' to her the way he did with the demon.

"Can you hear me?"

"Oh god, yes I can hear you. What the hell is happening?" Then they both heard the demon,

"It's the beginning of the claim."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Finn asked.

"Because you both worry too much. This is supposed to happen," he stated matter of factly.

"Why now?"

"The link has to be established first before we can complete the claim. You finally agreed. I began the claim," he stated simply.

Bayley could see now why Finn found the demon so infuriating at times. His nonchalance at taking such a step without their permission, his 'I know better than you' attitude made her want to scratch his figurative eyes out, but then he surprised them again.

"You are mates. Your strength lies within each other. You will know where the other is without sight, you will communicate without sound, you will feel each other without touch. Do not be so aggrieved, you are stronger as one. This is only possible because of the depth of your love. You will transcend beyond these petty fears, and be more than you thought possible."


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: Sorry it's taken so long to get this chapter out. This story keeps taking on a life of it's own and surprising me with twists and turns I hadn't planned on. Honestly, all original outlines for this have been scrapped and I have a vague idea of where I'm going with it, but I've given up trying to nail it down to a definite outline. We'll just see where it takes me, and hope you all enjoy being along for the ride.

* * *

'Finn?' Bayley asked tentatively through their new connection. She could feel him and knew now what the demon had meant when he'd said they would know each other without sight. He was in class on the other side of the building, and she could tell he was bored. She knew this without even having to think about it, it was just there.

She could literally feel him jerk in surprise. Neither was used to this new connection they shared and it had been an interesting week trying to adjust. After he'd made his declaration the demon was uncharacteristically silent for a couple of days, but once he'd started talking to them again he'd maintained the aura of supreme superiority that had pissed them both off. She could almost see why the demon had initiated the connection now, just so they could become accustomed to it, but she wasn't going to admit that out loud, even in her thoughts, because the demon was insufferable enough.

'What's up?' he finally responded.

'I need to get out of here,' she replied. She'd been training all out in preparation for Asuka for days now, but the stress was starting to get to her. She could only watch so much tape and practice so many counters before she felt like she was going to pull her hair out. The trainers, the other wrestlers, her friends, they all meant well, but the unasked for advice and the unintentional pressure had really started to bug her. She knew how dangerous Asuka was she really didn't need it being shoved down her throat.

'Class is over in like ten minutes. Get cleaned up, I'll meet you by the car'

'Are you sure?'

'Yeah, you need a break, love, that's all the excuse I need.'

'You're the best.'

'See you in ten.'

She felt almost giddy like she was back in high school skipping class for the first time. Finn's goofy grin when he walked up told her he was feeling it a little too. He leaned down and kissed her quickly, grinned again and opened up the car door for her. She got settled in the car while Finn went around to his side. Once he pulled out onto the road she asked him,

"So what's the plan?"

"What plan?" He said still grinning at her.

"Ha ha. I know you too well, and you are entirely too happy, so what's up?"

"You'll see," he said cryptically, then he wouldn't say anything else about it. He knew her too well too. He knew she loved surprises, even if she was not very good at being patient enough to wait for them.

About ten minutes later he pulled up to one of their favorite hiking spots, this one being one of the more secluded ones. She wasn't really in the mood to hike, but she reserved her opinion waiting to see what he had up his sleeve. After all it was a beautiful spring day and being outside was definitely an improvement. He grabbed a blanket out of his trunk, and then took her hand smiling at her. They didn't go too far before they got to a nice shaded spot with a pretty view and he spread the blanket out under the trees. He toed off his shoes and laid down patting the spot next to him in invitation. This might actually be perfect now that she could see where he was going with it, and she happily removed her shoes and curled up next to him.

"So we can just relax and enjoy, we can talk, or we could make out like teenagers, whatever you want."

"I think I'm all talked out at this point, but the first one sounds good and maybe the last." She smiled teasingly at him.

"Just maybe, huh?" He grinned at her too then leaned over and gave her a sweet but fairly chaste kiss. She sighed happily and laid her head on his chest and just drank it in. This is definitely what she needed. She could smell the sunshine and the grass, feel the breeze tickling her skin, hear the birds chirping around her and Finn's steady hearteat underneath her. She finally felt some of the tension release, and with that came a stream of tears, completely unexpected.

"Hey now, shh, hey, you're alright, everything's going to be alright," he murmured gently, soothingly running his hand through her hair. He let her cry it out, holding and comforting her as best as he could. He could be pretty perfect sometimes and right now was definitely one of them. Eventually the tears slowed down, and he wiped the the tears off of her cheeks with his thumbs. She'd gotten the corner of his shirt damp, but when she started to apologize for it he silenced her with a look, and said

"No need to apologize, I'm just glad I could help. Feel any better now?"

"Yeah, I really do. I'm sorry I turned into a watering pot."

"I told you you don't have to apologize babe, that's what I'm here for."

"I know, but I know you're also under a lot of pressure right now."

"Yeah I am, but I've faced Joe before, it helps some, and being here with you right now is helping me too. Having this connection, as mad as I was at first that he didn't warn us, has also made things easier. The demon's not nearly so anxious now that we can feel where you are, that you're safe and happy. He's been a lot easier to deal with." She started to apologize again, this time for the fact that she had been the one causing the demon's anxiety, but didn't get a word out. He silenced her through the connection by simply saying her name. His eyes burned into hers and she simply knew the message he was trying to portray without having to hear it either out loud or telepathically. He didn't want her feeling guilty over needing a little time, and everything had worked out the way it was supposed to.

This part of the connection hadn't manifested until now. Knowing what he meant, what he wanted without words-it was amazing. She was still in awe of everything that was happening. She thought about it for a moment and then decided to try an experiment. She reached down inside of herself feeling her love, her passion, her amazement of him, then she purposefully tried to convey it through the connection. His breath caught and for a second she was afraid she'd done something wrong until he abruptly pulled her on top of him, capturing her mouth in a heated kiss. He poured the feeling back into her through both the connection and the kiss, and it was her turn to gasp in wonder.

Since the connection was established the demon had let up the pressure on them when it came to the physical stuff too. The desire had certainly not dissapeared, but they could enjoy kissing each other again without feeling so on edge. They took advantage of this, and for awhile they got lost in the feeling. When the edge started to creep back in they pulled back and simply lay together in silence enjoying the peace. When Bayley spoke again she said,

"I'm not sure I can beat her. I've never felt that way before. Even with Sasha I knew I could, even when I'd failed before, I knew that I had it in me, but Asuka's different. She's so fast, so lethal, I just can't find that certainty inside myself, and if I don't find it before Saturday, I'm as good as done."

"You're so strong, love, stronger than anyone I've ever met. Your heart, your fire, she can't match that. _I_ know you have it in you, but even if you don't beat her, that's not something she can touch." He once again opened the connection, letting her feel _his_ certainty. It was as close as she was going to get to feeling sure, and it helped her refocus over the following days.

...

She was exhausted. Asuka was easily the hardest opponent she'd ever been in the ring with, her kicks were absolutely devastating. She'd managed to keep a pretty even exchange of offense and defense going for the match, but there had never been a point when she actually gained the upper hand, and she wasn't sure how much longer she could keep up with her intense pace. Asuka was tiring too, but not fast enough. She caught a spin kick to the head and went down hard, too out of it to prevent Asuka from locking in an armbar. As she struggled out of the hold Asuka managed to sink in the Asuka lock, a chokehold that she'd never seen anyone escape. She didn't give up though, it wasn't in her. She kept struggling just managing to get to her feet, dragging the small but fierce woman with her to the ropes. She was almost there, but she could feel the lack of air taking effect, her vision starting to swim and her ears ringing.

Right as everything started fading to black she felt something inside of her, a surge of energy infused her body, despite the arm clenched around her throat she felt like she could breathe again and time seemed to slow to a crawl. She pushed off with her legs using Asuka's momentum against her and flipped over her head while simultaneously locking in a choke of her own. Asuka wasn't nearly as worn down as she had been and gave her hell, scratching, kicking, and clawing at her in an attempt to break the hold. She could feel her slipping out, so she let go abruptly, surprising Asuka enough that she had time to hit her twice and try and lock it in again, but Asuka was quick and she tried to reverse it back into the Asuka lock. Bayley just barely managed to escape it in time and once again used her momentum to flip them around, taking her down to the mat and quickly locking in the move that had won her the iron woman match with Sasha, a scissored armbar that looked almost as painful as it felt. As she wrenched Asuka's arm back, she could feel the demon with her and she gave in to his urging for more aggression and stomped at Asuka's head to the delight of the crowd. Asuka held out far longer than anyone ever had to the move, but eventually she gave in and tapped.

The crowd was both ecstatic and stunned. She'd really done it, she'd defeated the undefeated Asuka, she'd retained the title. It was obvious that even if the crowd had supported her, no one had actually expected it to happen. Hell she'd been pretty sure for a minute there that it wasn't going to happen. It felt amazing, but panic was starting to set in too. She never would have escaped the second Asuka lock if it hadn't been for that surge of energy and she was pretty sure that had been because of the demon. She knew that the demon had been with her at the end, had felt his power, his aggression. She wasn't sure if that set right with her. She'd never needed anything extra before, had always won on her own strength and cunning. She managed to take her belt back and hold it up for the crowd who had quickly got over their shock and were celebrating her win. She stumbled to the back, the pain and soreness starting to sink in as the adrenaline wore off.

Finn was there with the demon, and she was drawn to him. She knew there was no time, he had to go fight his own match, and with the paint on she knew the demon was the one at the forefront at the moment, but she wanted so bad to have Finn reassure her. He didn't hug her, but he cupped her face with his hand, and even with the demon's dark visage she could feel Finn and it helped. The moment was brief and then he was gone and she collapsed to the ground clutching her title, tears rolling down her face as it all hit her.

She saw Asuka stumble through and their eyes locked. Asuka knew that something had been different, she knew that Bayley had been more, but there was no disrespect or resentment in her gaze. She nodded to her, her eyes saying all that was needed. Somehow, despite it all, she'd gained the Japanese wrestler's respect. She'd done what was needed to retain her title, and Bayley knew that she would give this woman a second shot at the title at some point. They weren't through challenging each other in the ring, and demon influence or not they would get nothing but the best from each other.

...

Her momentary panic over receiving help from the demon upset Finn a lot more than she realized. She hadn't meant to make him think that she regretted agreeing to the claim, but he must have taken it that way because as they lay together that night, both completely exhausted he said,

"I know it really bothered you tonight that the demon stepped in. I wasn't expecting him to do that, but it's not something I think I will ever be able to stop him doing. He's always going to want to help you if you need it, and if we move forward with the claim he's only going to be even more influential in your matches."

"I know, it's just really hard to not feel like it was cheating."

"But it's not cheating. That's essentially saying that every time I get in the ring I'm cheating because he's always with me. Even without the paint, he's with me."

"No, I know you're not cheating. That's not what I'm trying to say at all. It's different for you though, you don't know what it's like to not have him there. He _is_ you. For me though it's like suddenly getting a boost of power I never had before and I can't help but feel like that's unfair to my opponent."

"I don't understand why you can't see this as a good thing, he makes you stronger."

"Yes, but that's exactly why it bothers me, I never needed that before to win a match."

"The claim isn't permanent yet, if you can't do this, it's still reversible." The offer stunned her. She'd never expected him to say something like that, and it felt like a blow to the chest.

"Is that what you want?"

"Hell no! I think it would probably kill me, but you're unhappy, and I can't stand that either." Relief flooded through her, for a moment after he'd made the offer she was afraid that he'd done so because he'd changed his mind.

"I'm just adjusting. I know you can't control him, I know that this is part and parcel of the whole deal, I just wasn't ready for it, and I can't help how I feel. You've always had the demon with you, you're used to him being a part of you in the ring, but I've never had anybody but me out there. That does't mean I can't accept it. No matter what, I told you, I'm all in."

It was obvious that even with their connection there could still be misunderstanding between them if they didn't talk to each other honestly or be willing to open up to each other, a lesson they probably had needed to learn, but was painful none the less. She opened the connection between them and tried to show him how she felt, her discomfort with the way things had gone down, but also the deep love and commitment she felt for him. He reciprocated and she felt the fading sense of panic, his confusion, and then his relief at her reassurance. Through it all his profound love. They'd both needed the reminder that their feelings were mutual, that they weren't alone.

He pulled her into his side and she rested her head in the crook of his shoulder and wrapped her arm around his waist. They both drifted off to sleep, their connection still open between them.

...

She was floating in a mist feeling loved, safe, protected, then all of sudden she was fighting Asuka again, feeling herself being choked out, stars in her vision, then everything went black for a second and she could see Asuka standing on the turnbuckle holding the title, her title. She could feel the crushing weight of disappointment, the devastation for a minute before she paused and thought, this isn't right, I won. I brought that title home with me.

Suddenly she was back in the mist and she heard a growl. A chill went down her spine and she saw something in the mist. The shadows seemed to coalesce into a form. He was shaped a lot like Finn, but bigger, taller, his shoulders broader, arms a little longer. Where Finn wore a headdress to mimic a crown of dreadlock-like tentacles, these were real, wilder seeming to have a life of their own. He had spines down his back and a massive, fanged grin, his skin mottled black and red, streaks of black-red blood dripping down his arms and off of long, clawed fingers.

She should be scared, it was image out of a nightmare, but she wasn't. She stood still, waiting. He came closer and lifted one hand to her face, trailing a claw across her cheek gently, carefully. She felt him say,

'Mine,' and she replied,

'Yours...and his.'

The toothy grin widened, 'You will accept my gifts,'

'What gifts?'

Suddenly she was awake, gasping sitting up in bed, trying to catch her breath. Something inside of her felt like it was burning, like a ball of flames was consuming her from the inside out. She couldn't breath and she could feel her vision going white right before she passed out.

When she woke again she could feel Finn shaking her and calling her name, his voice laced with panic.

She sat up slowly, the world was spinning for a minute before everything seemed to stabilize. She could breathe again, could think again.

"What's wrong, what happened?" Finn asked still concerned.

"I'm not sure. I think I just met the demon, like for real this time."

Finn sat back, his face going blank for a minute and she knew that he was remembering the dream now.

"Oh."

"What, what did he do?"

"You're not going to like it." She starting cursing both internally directed at the the demon, and out loud in simple frustration. Finn grinned at her when she got more and more creative in her choice of words, but sobered when she asked,

"Is it always going to be like this? He just decides what he wants and does it without asking?"

"Pretty much."

"Damn it!"

"I know, believe me." She sighed in frustration, knowing it wasn't Finn's fault and if he could only control him so much after being a part of the demon for most of his life, then she was going to have to accept that there were just some things they would have to put up with.

"So what did he do?"

"He took offense to you not caring for his interference, so he decided to give you the power to do it on your own."

"What does that mean?"

"What did he do for you in your match yesterday?"

"It felt like I got a an extra boost of energy and time seemed to slow down for a minute, like I could think faster, clearer."

"So from now on when you feel like you are starting to wear out you will get a second wind."

"And the whole time thing?"

"Actually that one I can do too. It's not time actually slowing down of course. It's more like you said, you can think faster. It's the ability to process everything faster, you can see every move your opponent's making and make decisions and carry them out like everything's in slow motion even though it's not."

"Wow, you can do that all of the time?"

"Not all of the time necessarily, but when I need it, it's there. You have to consciously make the decision to use that one. It would make life really strange if you had it all of the time."

"That makes sense I guess, but this is really weird."

"I know, and that's just the tip of the iceberg."

"Really?"

"I can do a lot of other things too, some things I don't do because it wouldn't be fair, and other things I can't control and have to live with all of the time, like the stronger sense of hearing and smell."

"Things are never going to be normal again, are they?"

"No. I'm sorry Bayley. If I'd never invited you to my room that night, you wouldn't have to deal with this."

"Hey don't say that. I love you. I'm glad you invited me in that night, no matter how weird it gets."

"I love you too, just remember you said that after we complete the claim and you can never escape from him again."

"I will. I don't want to escape from him, he's a part of you, an infuriating part, but still. Most women have to deal with their other half having a not so nice side, mine just comes with an extra helping of strange." She tried to lighten things up and he rewarded her with a smile and said,

"You're amazing, you know that right? I can't imagine how anyone else could have possibly handled all of this as well as you have."

"Yeah, well you're pretty amazing too, and I couldn't have done it without you here with me."

'If you two are done being all lovey-dovey now?' the demon interjected, sounding a little disgusted. They replied simultaneously,

'What do you want?'

'Things have changed. You do not want to know how badly everything would have gone for either of you if you hadn't set in motion the current events like you did that night, but it's even more important now that you complete the claim.'

'What?' Bayley asked confused, while Finn said,

'We will.'

'I don't understand, what do you mean how badly things would have gone? How do you know that?'

'I meant exactly what I said.'

'Don't let him fool you. He doesn't know for sure what would have happened, just the most likely outcome. He doesn't know the future, but he can see all of the factors and predict the outcome as long as nothing changes, of course everything's constantly changing, so.' Finn trailed off.

'Don't act like you haven't used it before,' the demon replied sounding a little offended.

'Yeah, but I know to take it with a grain of salt. There are always too many variables to make it reliable.'

'Every time I think I've come to terms with everything, you two have to throw something else at me, why is that?'

'Because if he'd told you everything at first you would have went screaming in the other direction,' the demon replied smugly.

'Hey that's not entirely true, some of it wasn't held back on purpose, I just didn't think of it,' Finn said sounding both contrite and put out.

'Whatever. Just try not to let me get blindsided please. I know that I would have been overwhelmed to begin with, hell I was overwhelmed, but I think I'm starting to catch on pretty well, just don't hold anything back too long,' she told them. The demon didn't say anything else, but she both heard and felt Finn's reassurance that he wouldn't. After the demon went quiet, she and Finn were able to settle back down to get some rest drifting off into a thankfully dreamless sleep this time.


End file.
